Dendrochronological evidence of cockchafer (Melolontha sp.) outbreaks in subfossil tree-trunks from Tovačov (CZ Moravia)

In dendrochronological dating, we encounter the trouble that some samples cannot be dated due to the occurrence of anomalies in the tree-ring series. When dating subfossil wood for the extension of existing master chronologies, this may be an especially unwanted circumstance as subfossil wood is scarce and each sample is valuable. In Moravia (Czech Republic) outbreaks of the cockchafer (Melolontha sp.) used to appear with a disastrous effect on agricultural crops, and, for a dendrochronologist, on samples of wood to be dated. Oak ring width reduction caused by cockchafer induced defoliation can superimpose climate induced growth variations and may complicate dating of historical or subfossil samples. For this study, 33 samples of sub-fossil trunks were assessed; 19 of which were attacked by cockchafer. For comparison, we analysed a total of nine living oak trees from the forest district Strá?nice-Vracov, recently attacked by the cockchafer. Occurrence of the cockchafer was reported there in 1999, 2003 and 2007.We found clear growth patterns with cyclic narrow rings every 4 years. This allowed us to create an artificial curve expressing the recurring cycles of cockchafer outbreaks which assisted us in the detection of the same pattern in subfossil tree growth. The tree-ring series of the attacked living oak stand as well as the 19 individual tree-ring series from subfossil oak trunks could not be dated using standard chronologies and showed a high resemblance to the cockchafer life cycle. Additionally, we found out that the living oak stand was attacked in 1983, 1987, 1991 and 1995 as well. The results support the hypothesis that the periodical reduction observed in tree-rings at regular increments is caused by cockchafer infestation. This evidence is further supported by characteristic anatomical features in early wood. A mean tree-ring series was created from the individual tree-ring series of subfossil oaks even though radiocarbon dating showed completely different ages of samples. This means that the affected tree-ring series cannot be used for dendrochronological dating and dendroclimatological analyses. These series cannot be used without preceding mathematical and statistical modification.     

Towards improving the assessment of rainforest carbon: Complementary evidence from repeated diameter measurements and dated wood

We explore whether a growth-ring analysis can produce additional information about carbon budgets in tropical forests. Such forests are characterized by a high number of species and by trees that rarely have anatomically distinct annual growth rings, which hampers the application of dendrochronological tools in carbon balance assessments in the tropics. We use forest inventory data and archived annual diameter measurements from the Luki Biosphere Reserve in the southwestern margin of the Congo Basin forest massif. In addition, dated wood data are available from the same location thanks to tag nail traces that allow for the measurement of growth increments over a period of 66 years.We find that precise increment measurements based on dated wood are advisable for small subsets of many less abundant species and for functional species groups characterized by slow growth. The dated wood approach shows that many understory trees with non-periodical rings remain in a steady state for long periods of time. These results suggest a dated wood approach is advisable for studies of growth trajectories of individual trees that might be of importance for carbon assessments in degraded forests.     

The Danish royal flagship gribshunden – Dendrochronology on a late medieval carvel sunk in the Baltic Sea

The Royal flagship Gribshunden carried the Danish King Hans on its way to the city of Kalmar in Sweden when the ship sank in the summer of 1495. The ship caught fire while anchored north of the Stora Ekö Island and sank to the seafloor, where it lies to this day. The wreck was rediscovered in the 1970s and is remarkably well preserved. Since 2001, scientific investigations have been performed on the wreck by various organizations. In total, 13 dendrochronological samples from different parts of the ship construction have been collected and analyzed with standard dendrochronological methods with respect to age and provenance. The results show that all dated samples could have been felled during the winter season of 1482/83, although only one sample contains sapwood and waney edge. The highest correlations are obtained from reference chronologies that originate from the River Meuse drainage area, with correlations peaking around the city of Namur in Belgium. Most likely, the ship was constructed in a shipyard close to the mouth of the River Meuse in the southern Netherlands. It seems King Hans realized the potential of the new ship type represented by Gribshunden, but his shipwrights did not have the knowledge to build such a ship in Denmark. Instead, he purchased the ship from abroad. This study highlights late medieval economic and political connections throughout northern Europe.     

First dendro-archaeological evidence of a completely excavated medieval settlement in the extreme north of Western Siberia

The Buchta Nakhodka settlement is the only archaeological site in the northern part of Western Siberia that has been fully excavated. This well-preserved settlement on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula around 67° N and 72° E, however, has not yet been calendar dated, and the cultural identity of its inhabitants still remains unknown. Here we apply, for the first time, dendrochronological techniques to absolutely date 13 of the most important archaeological timbers from the Buchta Nakhodka settlement. Statistical robust cross-dating results place the construction into the second quarter of the 13th century. The Buchta Nakhodka settlement reveals no obvious connection with the modern, nomadic population of Yamal, the Nenets. Together with a careful literature review, this study indicates that the closest construction techniques and subsequent settlement forms can be found on Iceland and across northern Fennoscandia, where Sami people are building their houses in a similar way. Our combined archaeological, dendrochronological, ethnographical and (archaeo)zoological evidence suggests that the ancient inhabitants of Buchta Nakhodka were closely related to the Sihirtya people that were often mentioned in ancient Nenets folklore as legendary people who inhabited the Yamal Peninsula previously. In providing unique insights into the medieval settlement history of the northern part of Western Siberia, we hope to encourage further interdisciplinary research projects to be launched at Eurasia’s high-northern latitudes.     

Revealing Polylepis microphylla as a suitable tree species for dendrochronology and quantitative wood anatomy in the Andean montane forests

In the tropical Andes climate change is expected to increase temperatures and change precipitation patterns. To overcome the lack of systematic weather records that limits the performance of climate models in this region, the use of the environmental information contained in tree rings from tropical Andean species have been found useful to reconstruct spatio-temporal climate variability. Because classical dendrochronology based on ring-width patterns is often challenging in the tropics, alternative approaches such as Quantitative Wood Anatomy (QWA) based on the measurement and quantification of anatomical traits within tree rings can be a significant advance in the field. Here we assess the dendrochronological potential of Polylepis microphylla and its climate sensitivity by using i) classic dendrochronological methods to generate the first Tree-ring Width (TRW) chronology for this tree species spanning from 1965 to 2018; ii) radiocarbon (¹⁴C) analyses as an independent validation method to assess the annual periodicity of the tree growth layers; and iii) QWA to generate tree-ring annual records of the number (VN) and size (VS) of vessels to investigate the climate sensitivity of these anatomical traits. The annual periodicity in P. microphylla radial growth was confirmed by both dendrochronological and ¹⁴C analyses. We found that VN and VS are promising new proxies to reconstruct climate variability in this region and that they provide different information than TRW. While TRW provides information at inter-annual resolution (i.e., year-to-year variability), VN and VS generated with sectorial QWA provide intra-annual resolution for each stage of the growing process. The TRW and the anatomical traits (i.e., VN and VS) showed strong positive correlation with maximum temperature for different periods of the growing season: while VS is higher with warmer conditions prior to the growing season onset, tree-rings are wider and present higher number of vessels when warmer conditions occur during the current growing season. Our findings pointed out the suitability of P. microphylla for dendrochronological studies and may suggest a good performance of this species under the significant warming expected according to future projections for the tropical Andes.     

Cambial dormancy induced growth rings in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heritiera fomes</Emphasis> Buch.- Ham.: a proxy for exploring the dynamics of Sundarbans,Bangladesh

Key message

Cambial marking experiment and cambial activity analysis offer strong evidence on existence of annual growth rings in Heritiera fomes and revealing the potential of dendrochronological applications in Bangladesh mangroves.

Abstract

Despite enormous significance in coastal protection, biodiversity conservation and livelihood support to the local communities, mangrove ecosystems have been continuously degrading mainly due to anthropogenic disturbances and climate change. Time series based on dated tree ring is an option to identify the causes of forest dilapidation. In this study, we investigated the structure and periodicity of the growth ring in Heritiera fomes, the flagship tree species of the Bangladesh Sundarbans, combining cambial marking experiment and cambial activity analysis. Distinct growth rings were found which are delineated by a band of marginal parenchyma, predominantly one cell wide but up to three and occasionally interrupted with fiber. Of the 13 trees with cambium marking experiment, one growth ring was found in each tree during a year. The dormant cambium was characterized by the abrupt boundary between xylem and cambial zone, absence of enlarging or differentiating cambial derivatives, lower number of cambial cells and thicker radial walls in cambial cells. Growth ring anomalies, i.e., wedging and partially missing rings were also found. In most of the cases, the lower part of the eccentric discs had low radial increment (<0.75 mm) and therefore the growth ring in that area merged with previous one and produced wedging or partially missing ring. However, the existence of annual rings suggests its great potential for future dendrochronological applications to reveal the dynamics of vegetation and climate in Sundarbans.

     

Neotropical Hypericum irazuense shrubs reveal recent ENSO variability in Costa Rican páramo

Climate-vegetation relations in alpine systems play a pivotal role in regulating hydrology and have thus become a research priority in a context of ongoing climate change. In this paper, we investigate how one of the most dominant shrub species in alpine páramo ecosystems of Central America, Hypericum irazuense, responds to changes in precipitation, temperature and El Niño-Southern Oscillation. To this end, we performed dendrochronological and wood-anatomical analyses on H. irazuense to determine the limiting climatic factors driving shrub growth, using a bootstrapped correlation and response function analysis. To validate our results further, we also applied Structural Equation Models (SEM), an approach commonly used in ecology, so as to check for climate-growth relations which consider the control of ENSO on growth through its influence on various climatic parameters. Results support a relation between climate and annual growth of H. irazuense and demonstrate that the latter is sensitive to precipitation and temperature during boreal winters. In addition, we observe a statistically significant correlation between annual growth and La Niña events. The presence of annual growth rings holds H. irazuense as one in only few neotropical species suited for dendrochronological studies. Results of this study could thus contribute to an improved understanding of how changing climatic conditions affect the fragile and threatened páramo ecosystem and the ensuing services it offers in the form of hydrology regulation over the next decades.     

Combined dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating of three Russian icons from the 15th–17th century

Dendrochronology is usually the only method of precise dating of unsigned art objects made on or of wood. It has a long history of application in Europe, however in Russia such an approach is still at an infant stage, despite its cultural importance. Here we present the results of dendrochronological and radiocarbon accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of three medieval icons from the 15th–17th century that originate from the North of European Russia and are painted on wooden panels made from Scots pines. For each icon the wooden panels were dendrochronologically studied and five to six AMS dates were made. Two icons were successfully dendro-dated whereas one failed to be reliably cross-dated with the existing master tree-ring chronologies, but was dated by radiocarbon wiggle-matching. Wiggle-matching of radiocarbon dates is the most promising method for dating Russian icons in the absence of a dense dendrochronological network. However, for this case uncertainties connected with the radiocarbon method have to be taken into account and further studies of these uncertainties must be undertaken by comparing dendro-dated and radiocarbon-dated wooden works of art. Our results, moreover, showed that in two cases art-historical dates were by five to ten decades older than the earliest possible time of the creation of the icons, based on dendrochronology.     

Castle Pišece,Slovenia – Building history and wood economy revealed by dendrochronology,dendroprovenancing and historical sources

Castle Pišece, located in SE Slovenia near the border with Croatia, is thought to have been built in the 12th/13th century as one in the line of Salzburg fortresses on the then SE border of the Holy Roman Empire. During thorough restoration that started in 2005, its wooden constructions became accessible for dendrochronological investigations. We collected representative samples from floor or ceiling constructions in most of the rooms in the castle. Dendrochronology helped us to identify felling dates of wood and to propose probable years of reconstructions in 1515, 1578, 1644, 1697, 1752, 1758, 1775 and 1878. The dating showed that the constructions in the presumed Romanesque and Renaissance parts of the building were not as old as expected, whereas those in the supposedly Baroque part of the castle were older than assumed. The selection of wood species used for constructions varied over time. Constructions with end dates 1515–1697 were made of oak (Quercus petraea and Q. robur), those dated to 1752 of silver fir (Abies alba), those dated to 1758 of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) and those dated to 1878 of common beech (Fagus sylvatica). Comparison of forestry archives and vegetation in the area showed that most of the timber could have originated from nearby forests; only silver fir had to be transported from sites that were at least 20 km away from the castle. Cross-dating of tree-ring series of oak elements with two reference chronologies from Slovenia and two from Austria confirmed the great likelihood that the wood used mostly originated from Slovenia. This indicates that dendroprovenancing, not used in the area before, could also be used SE of the Alps. Both the existing archival documents and dendrochronology indicate that woodworks have taken place every few decades in some periods. The dendrochronological dates can be partly linked to reports on earthquakes (especially the devastating one in 1511), rebellions and year marks carved on the stone plaques.     

Dendrochronology improves understanding of the charcoal production history

Charcoal piles have become a frequent subject of research in recent years as a better understanding of past human activities in forests is sought. The age of charcoal piles is usually determined by radiocarbon dating; dendrochronology is rarely used because of the small size of preserved charcoal remains and the insufficient number of visible tree rings. This paper presents the potential for dendrochronological and ¹⁴C method in research into charcoal piles. From 14 charcoal-burning sites in the Czech Republic, 214 pieces of charcoal were anatomically identified at the genus level and dendrochronologically analysed. Our results show that fir dominated in these charcoal remains, followed by oak, beech, spruce and pine. With an overall dendrochronological dating success of 24 %, fir charcoal was dated most often (65 %) with measurable tree rings ranging from 14 to 90. The oldest charcoals were dendrochronologically dated to summer 1682 CE; conversely, the youngest had end dates in the second half of the 19th century. The relatively poor dating success of oak charcoal very likely resulted from the use of branches for charcoal production rather than tree trunks. Based on an analysis of selected charcoal samples, we confirm that radiocarbon dating provided a very wide range of dates in the post-1650 CE period and the use of the wiggle-matching method was usually challenging because of short TRW series. Based on samples with preserved waney edges, we conclude that charcoal was more commonly made from wood felled in the summer than in the winter. Despite the relatively low level of success of dendrochronological dating, it seems more effective for dating charcoal than the ¹⁴C method, especially with samples from the last 350 years.     

Testing the utility of Nothofagus pumilio for dating a snow avalanche in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

In the subalpine forest zone, snow avalanches are potentially stand-devastating disturbances. Historical data regarding past avalanches in Argentina are scarce, but sufficiently old trees can show signs of past avalanche episodes that can be accurately dated using dendrochronological methods. Tree-ring analysis has not yet been used for dating avalanches in Tierra del Fuego, even though these disturbances are important to the dynamics of these southern forests. In this study, we evaluated the quality of Nothofagus pumilio for dating the avalanche that took place in the Martial Valley in 1976. Tree-ring data, complemented with vegetation analysis, was used to study the avalanche path. The dendrochronological study consisted of the analysis of wood samples taken from living trees located on the boundary between the undisturbed forest and the avalanche path. The vegetation analysis compared the forest structure within the avalanche path with the unaffected nearby forest. Wood scars and the abrupt increase in tree growth confirmed the occurrence of an avalanche event in 1976 in the Martial Valley of Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The vegetation structure within the avalanche path was considerably different than that of the undisturbed forest. We found an important relationship between sapling abundance within the avalanche path and their distance from the undisturbed forest and their altitudinal position. The dendrochronological dating obtained in this research confirmed that the techniques and methodology used for N. pumilio in this study can be successfully applied for dating other avalanches that lack historical information.     

Tree-ring records from Nothofagus dombeyi: A preliminary chronology network in Northern Patagonia,Argentina

Most of the dendrochronological efforts in northern Patagonia have been invested in long-lived conifer species, whereas several broadleaf species have received less attention. This is the case for Nothofagus dombeyi, a dominant species in the mesic temperate and rainforests in the region. The aim of this study was to develop the first tree-ring chronologies for N. dombeyi in northern Patagonian and contribute to the future dendroecological and dendroclimatological studies in the region. Using standard dendrochronological techniques, six tree-ring-width chronologies were obtained encompassing the east–west precipitation gradient of this species in the Argentinean sector of the northern Patagonian Andes. Chronology statistics indicated that N. dombeyi records are highly reliable and a good source of information on tree-growth variability in the region. Stands located in the xeric sectors of the gradient showed higher inter-site variability. Also, results presented here showed that N. dombeyi has a large potential for the study of climatic variability in northern Patagonia.     

Development of filial preferences in dark-reared chicks

When given a simultaneous choice preference test 24h after being allowed a period of time in running wheels, dark-reared domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, will approach a stuffed jungle fowl in preference to a red box. The present study was designed to determine which aspects of the stuffed fowl were critical for the emergence of this preference. In all experiments the preferences of dark-reared chicks were studied in a test involving the simultaneous presentation of an intact stuffed jungle fowl and a second, test object. In experiment 1 this object was a ‘complex’ red box, in experiments 2.1 and 2.2 disarticulated stuffed fowl, and in experiment 2.3 the ‘scrambled’ skin of a jungle fowl. The results of these experiments suggested that particular arrangements or configurations of features, and not outline or textural complexity alone, are important for the emergence of the predisposition. Further support for this hypothesis was obtained in experiment 2.4 in which the intact fowl was compared to a test object containing such configurations of features. The result of experiment 3 suggested that the configuration of features associated with the head and neck region are particularly important, while the results of experiments 4 and 5, in which the test objects were a stuffed gadwall duck and a stuffed polecat, respectively, established that the configuration of features esential for the predisposition is not species specific.     

How aridity variations affect Prosopis caldenia growth in transitional forests in the semiarid Argentinean Pampas

The semiarid Pampas in central Argentina, occupied by caldén’s (Prosopis caldenia Burkart) woodlands (caldenales), had been affected by several wet and dry periods in the last century. Nowadays, the caldenales cover about 17 million hectares of central Argentina and their current state is critical due to massive deforestation rates. Caldén has an important dendrochronological potential since it produces sensitive tree rings linked to climate oscillations, fire events, competence, insect breakout, among others. The standard dendrochronological analysis can be improved with new advances in serial modeling and multivariate ordination techniques for handling problems related to the comparison of dendrochronological samples. We applied a statistical algorithm, BIOdry, which integrates conventional procedures for modeling patterns between annual diameter increments and drought. P. caldenia dendrochronological data were used accounting for multiple sources of variation from the sample design, and comparing patterns from contrasting climatic portions of the study site. The relation between diameter growth dynamics of caldén with temperature and precipitation fluctuations along the second half of the last century was analyzed. Populations at the Northern limit of its natural distribution area were selected. Monthly temperature and precipitation were evaluated in order to identify relative water surplus and deficit periods and an annual aridity index (AAI) was calculated. The objectives of the present work were: to analyze, describe and model response patterns between the P. caldenia diameter growth increment and the AAIs. A common growth response pattern and differences in tree and population level were also analysed. The algorithm BIOdry showed a good behavior, according to the considered statistical parameters (all the fixed effects were statistically significant). Several and common problems associated with the nature of the tree-ring data in modeling (pseudorreplication, autocorrelation, and nested random effects) were efficiently addressed. P. caldenia diameter growth, at tree level significantly responds to different AAI variation intensities along the studied period. A high frequency growth variability at population level was detected when trees establishment happened. These associations ended when trees become older. Low frequency growth variability at population level was significant throughout the analyzed period, presumably linked to age and management history. These results provide news insights in relation to the climate impact on growth dynamics of caldén in the Argentinean pampas and the value of new statistical tools in order to improve dendrochronological studies.     

Mind the gap: Encountering contemporary art through play

Knowing how to approach and experience contemporary art is a challenge to many people outside the art world. Emerging contemporary art, as the newest of this genre, is often the most challenging. This article recounts my own early struggles as a researcher in this field, and proposes a way of understanding the interaction between artist, artwork and perceiver based on my observations of how contemporary artists encounter each others' work. I argue that contemporary art, and especially emerging contemporary art, creates a space to play by creating an intentional gap in the physical form and/or the semantic structure of the artwork. The object of play is the co‐investigation of an idea initiated by the artist, facilitated by the form of the work and furthered by the encounter. Play, it is argued, is essential to emerging contemporary art as an activity, a communicative frame and a disposition. I draw from earlier theoretical connections between art, play and liberation, challenging some of these assertions, and bringing others into relevance in the contemporary context.     

The dendrochronological proof of origin of oak churches located in the Czech Republic

Transcarpathian wooden churches started to dilapidate after World War I. To preserve the architectural heritage, five oak churches were transported from the region to the territory of today's Czech Republic. However, an exact date of their construction and origin of wood have not been specified and evidenced in literature. In this study, 63 samples have been collected and processed using standard dendrochronological methods. Three Baroque churches, coming from the Mukachevo district, were absolutely dated thanks to the preserved waney edge or sapwood tree rings to periods 1734–1744, 1753–1755, and 1783–1795. Two other churches, representing Gothic architecture, were transported from a more eastern part of Transcarpathian Ukraine. One of them was dated to the period after 1655 and the other could not be reliably dated using available reference chronologies. The created mean tree-ring width series representing individual churches showed strong correlations with the reference chronologies for Slovakia and northern Romania whereas correlations with the only Ukrainian chronology (Lviv region) were negligible. This could suggest low Transcarpathian tree-ring coherency and may indicate the need to create a dense network of regional tree-ring width chronologies in the regions surrounding the Carpathian Mountains.     

Wood species utilization for timber constructions in the Czech lands over the period 1400–1900

Longstanding demographic growth accompanied by rising settlement activities and development of industry led to an increasing demand on utilization of wood. Tree species were selected for their specific properties. As a consequence of regional differences of forest species composition, wood has become an extremely important trade commodity. Therefore, the utilization of individual species could substantially change in space and time. In this study, we use 8´135 precisely dated timber constructions from a dendrochronological database to investigate spatio-temporal changes in wood utilization across the Czech lands from the 15th to the 19th century. Our results suggest that the utilization of individual species in historical timber constructions was primarily limited by their availability. Species selection was also based on wood properties and stem geometry. Most of historical constructions (99.7%), represented mainly by roofs and ceilings, are made of fir, spruce, pine, and oak. While fir constructions prevail in eastern Moravia and Silesia, spruce constructions are largely spread across the western and central part of the Czech Republic. Pine and oak constructions reflect natural occurrence of such forests in lower elevated central Bohemia and southern Moravia. Although fir prevailed in timber construction in the late-Medieval and post-Medieval times, planting of spruce monocultures resulted in its significantly increased utilization by the end of the 19th century. This study demonstrates the value of dendrochronological databases as an indicator of historical wood utilization.     

“El Niño” events recorded in dry-forest species of the lowlands of northwest Peru

The northwest coast of Peru (5°S, 80°W) is very sensitive to and impacted by the climate phenomenon El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Though mainly desert, this warm, dry region contains an equatorial dry forest. We report the first dendrochronological studies from this region and identify several species that have dendrochronological potential. Short ring-width chronologies of Palo Santo (Bursera graveolens) show a well-developed response to the ENSO signal over the last 50 years and good inter-site correlations. Preliminary isotopic studies in Algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) also show evidence of the 1997–98 El Niño event. ENSO events have a strong effect on the variability in the growth of several species and thereby on the economy of rural communities where the wood is used for housing, cooking, furniture, tools, fodder and medicinal uses. The extensive use of wood in archeological sites also offers the possibility of ultimately developing longer records for some of these species.     

Precise tree-ring dating of building activities despite the absence of bark: A case-study on medieval church roofs in Damme,Belgium

A detailed dendrochronological survey was performed on the medieval roofs of the Church of Our Lady (CoOL) in Damme, Belgium. Seen its complex architectural history, special attention was paid to the identification of consecutive building phases, based on combined architectural historical research and tree-ring dating. In total 64 increment cores were taken throughout the roof structures of the CoOL. All roof timbers are made of European oak (Quercus robur/petraea), of which only few have surviving sapwood or bark. Tree-ring dating confirms the late 13th/early 14th century construction date of the roofs. For all chronologies that were composed, the highest correlation values are found with reference chronologies covering the catchment area of the river Meuse. From the dating results of the timbers of the CoOL it becomes clear that the same timber source was used for nearly a century. On several of the examined roof timbers, rafting joints were observed, demonstrating that the timbers were indeed tied together as a raft and floated down the river.By implementing sapwood estimates in a Bayesian chronological model (OxCal), tree-ring series with surviving sapwood from coeval roof structures were combined in order to narrow down the time range for the felling date. Based on the refined interpretation of the felling dates, several consecutive building phases can now be identified and dated, leading to a new interpretation of the architectural history of the CoOL. Intriguingly, a marked interruption in building activities is observed around 1300. Probably this is related to the instable political situation at that time, caused by the armed conflict that emerged between the Count of Flanders and the king of France. Since Damme served as the outport of the riotous city of Bruges, it was alternately seized by the French and Flemish, both consuming considerable amounts of timber and other building materials for military fortifications. Potentially this led to a shortage in building materials and provoked a stop in building activities.This paper demonstrates the power of Bayesian models to refine the interpretation of dendrochronological dates in architectural analyses of medieval historical buildings.     

Dendrochronological analysis of the ancient architecture of Kingdom of Lo. Upper Mustang,Nepal

Upper Mustang is a land of extraordinary, precious, tangible and intangible cultural heritage deeply rooted in the Tibetan culture and tradition of Buddhism as well as the Bön religion. The unique architecture provides a great source of timber suitable for dendrochronological research. Century-old fortresses, palaces, Buddhist monasteries and temples, houses and chörtens reflect the great importance of wood as a building material (used alongside clay and stone). We present pioneering research on historical wood from Upper Mustang. The objectives of the study were to determine the wood species used in the traditional architecture of the region, to make an attempt to date materials from Upper Mustang using existing tree-ring chronologies developed for neighbouring geographical regions and to determine the need and the chance of creating separate tree-ring chronologies for Upper Mustang. For the presented study we collected 191 samples from the oldest buildings preserved in Upper Mustang. Anatomical studies of samples resulted in the identification of four species of conifer wood: Himalayan pine – Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks, Himalayan fir – Abies spectabilis D.Don, Juniperus spp. and Larix spp. The main achievement of our research was the development of an Upper Mustang master chronology covering the period from 1317 to 1943. The chronology is based on data derived from Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jacks.